THE days of a Shergar (by 10 lengths from a future Group 1 winner!), Shahrastani, Old Vic or Sakhee winning the bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown seem to be firmly in the past, but the chances are that this year’s winner, Bangkok, will be one of the better ones by more recent standards.

His time encourages you to think so, anyway, slower than the top-class older horse Crystal Ocean in the earlier Gordon Richards Stakes but a lot faster than his fellow three-year-olds Sparkle Roll and Private Secretary later on the card.